


the way you make me melt

by jjokkiri



Series: 12 days of jjokkiristmas [3]
Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Bad Flirting, Fluff, Ice Cream Parlors, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 06:12:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13094097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jjokkiri/pseuds/jjokkiri
Summary: It’s freezing balls outside, but Hoseok thinks that the boy at the ice cream shop looks like strawberry ice cream and that’s coincidentally his favourite flavour.





	the way you make me melt

The fact that the weather outside was a frightening sub-zero did nothing to deter Shin Hoseok from the fact that he wanted to stop by the ice cream shop on his way back from university. It was simply the fact that he wanted to eat ice cream, when he was practically freezing his balls off outside and was barely dressed in weather appropriate clothing, because he’d lost his winter gloves. It was only a Friday afternoon, but the simple fact was that he wanted to have ice cream in ridiculously cold temperatures, for the fifth time (in a row) this week, when there was no less than five inches of snow on the ground. It had nothing to do with the fact that the boy who worked in the ice cream shop was absolutely adorable and had bright pink hair, which reminded him of strawberry ice cream, which _coincidentally_ was Hoseok’s favourite flavour of ice cream. It had nothing to do with it at all.

If it weren’t for the fact that his hair was silver, and it made him stand out against everyone who came into the shop—along with the fact that he was probably the only person who actually came into the ice cream shop in this kind of weather—perhaps, it would have been touching that the pink-haired boy who stood behind the counter actually remembered who he was. It might have been a little romantic too, because when he came to the ice cream shop this frequently throughout the week, it felt something like coming home after a long day to something _familiar._

Or maybe that was just Hoseok romanticizing the fact that they’d seen one another every single day since the seventh week of the semester, because he was slightly infatuated with the pink-haired boy with the cutest smile in the whole wide world—but, that didn’t mean that he ate ice cream in sub-zero temperatures because of him. _Of course not. That would be absolutely ridiculous._

The wind chime above the door tinkled when he pushed the door to the ice cream shop open and stepped into the small room decorated with pastel colours and assorted fridges filled with even more colours. Hoseok tried his best not to keep his eyes locked onto the mess of pink hair on the boy standing behind the counter in front of him—if he was going to stare, he had to be low-key about it. Not that there was anything low-key about the fact that he visited the ice cream shop every single day and stared into the glass fridges for several minutes, only to decide on the fact that he wanted to have strawberry ice cream. _Again_.

The sound of the wind chimes easily caught the attention of the boy, because he looked up from where he was staring at the counter—most likely playing on his phone, due to the lack of customers walking in and out of the shop. Hoseok couldn’t blame him. Being paid to do absolutely nothing was nice, but the lack of customers had to induce boredom at some point in the day. And it wasn’t like Hoseok was a creep, but he definitely knew that the boy’s shift started several hours ago. ( _Really,_ his creepiness was only due to the fact that he’d gone out for lunch with Minhyuk and they happened to walk by the ice cream shop at the same time that he saw a boy with pink hair walking in.)

“Hello,” the boy— _Kihyun_ , as his name tag declared—greeted him with a pleasant smile, fixing the visor on top of his mess of pink hair, “Welcome back.”

Hoseok flashed a shy smile at him, letting the door fall shut behind him, “Hey,” he replied.

And for someone who walked into the ice cream shop with so much confidence that _today_ would be the day that he finally asked Kihyun for his number, and maybe a date sometime over the holiday break, Hoseok deflated so easily when he was actually standing in front of the pink-haired boy. _Not because he liked him, or anything._

“How may I help you, today?” Kihyun asked, his voice sounding sweeter than the million milligrams of sugar inside every scoop of ice cream, which Hoseok consumed on a daily basis. Or maybe that was just the rose-coloured lenses that he was staring at the pretty boy with, again.

(If Minhyuk knew that Hoseok refused rides from the younger man home every day for the sake of going to eat ice cream and stare at the cute boy who worked there, then he would never hear the end of it.)

 _“Uh,”_ Hoseok started, dumbly. He always seemed to lack every form of eloquence when he was around Kihyun.

Kihyun leaned against the counter, reaching a hand over to pull on a plastic glove and the ice cream scoop being soaked in water, next to him. Kihyun’s voice was teasing when he spoke up again, and Hoseok caught the glint of amusement in his eyes. “Are we going to try something new, today? Or maybe, we want strawberry?”

 _We want your number,_ Hoseok heard himself whisper internally. The silver-haired man pushed the thought away and cleared his throat, staring blankly at a space behind Kihyun—or maybe, _at Kihyun_ , but trying his best to make it look like he wasn’t staring at Kihyun. _Either or_.

Kihyun smiled, lowering the ice cream scoop with a soft laugh. It sounded like something magical to Hoseok’s ears, but then again, that was probably just his slightly hopeless crush on the pink-haired man voicing its thoughts.

“You know, for someone who is so well-built,” he started, and Hoseok felt his heart racing in his chest— _was that, possibly, a compliment?_ “You surely eat a lot of ice cream.”

“I like ice cream,” he replied, stupidly. Kihyun laughed.

“I can tell,” he answered, “You get ice cream every single day, when you get back from school.”

And he might have asked Kihyun how the smaller man knew that he was coming back from school, when he belatedly realized that he still had his bag strapped to his back, weighed down with at least three different (ridiculously heavy) textbooks.

Today, it seemed like Kihyun was working alone, because the dark-haired boy who usually manned the cash register was nowhere in sight. Kihyun shifted his weight onto his left leg, leaning against the counter and dropping the ice cream scoop back into the container of water, lips curling into a small smile.

“There was a snowstorm, last night,” he told him, matter-of-fact and a tone lilted with delight. “And you like our ice cream enough to come here, today. I think I should be a little bit flattered.”

“I guess I really do like ice cream that much,” he replied, finally managing to piece his words together and saying something greater than stupid, for once. Kihyun grinned.

Managing a chuckle, Hoseok ran his fingers through his silver locks, cheeks flushing in embarrassment. He could only hope that he could blame it on the fact that it was cold outside, and his cheeks were belatedly reacted to the temperature change. Shoving his hands back into his pockets, Hoseok approached the counter and stared into the colourful tubs of ice cream in front of them—each of them looking tempting in their own way.

And the _‘reckless and terribly annoying customer’_ part of him almost wanted to look up and grin, before asking Kihyun if he was on the menu, but that probably wouldn’t be the best way to get the younger man’s attention. Not when he’d spent the past few months building up recognition in the ice cream shop—to the point that he’d be able to redeem at least fifty ice cream cones, if they had a reward system in the shop.

“I think I also like strawberry ice cream enough to ask for it, again,” he added, shyly. Kihyun laughed, eyes twinkling under the bright lights of the shop. The pink-haired man pushed himself off of the smooth counter, reaching his hand over to pick up the ice cream scoop, again.

“I swear we restock the strawberry ice cream the most, because of you,” he teased, opening the freezer and reaching into the tub of strawberry ice cream. The silver-haired man peered at him through the glass. Hoseok always liked watching Kihyun’s skilled hands roll the ice cream into a neat ball to plop into the cup—there was something so amazing about watching someone skillfully do something so simple. “Just one scoop?”

Hoseok nodding, before realizing that Kihyun wasn’t looking at him. “Yeah,” he responded.

The pink-haired man reached for one of the paper cups, letting the pink ball fall into it with a satisfied smile, “Anything with it at all, or would you just like it plain?”

 _Oh yes, your number would be nice,_ Hoseok’s mind inappropriately reminded him. The silver-haired man made a face at himself, when Kihyun placed the cup of ice cream onto the top of the freezer.

“No, thank you,” he said, finally deciding that he really didn’t have the guts to randomly ask Kihyun for his number.

“Okay,” he replied, moving over to the cash register—Hoseok’s eyes following his movements, easily. Kihyun glanced at him, smiling shyly when they suddenly locked eyes with one another. “That’ll be— _hmm_ , actually, let me give you the ice cream on the house, today.”

Hoseok looked at him, surprised, “But, you guys don’t even make very much money in the winter, anyway.”

Kihyun laughed, taking off his visor to push his hair back and fixing the hat’s position on his head, “We usually make nothing, if it weren’t for you coming in every day. If we give away free ice cream to our most frequent customer, I don’t think that’s a problem. And if it is, then it’ll just be coming out of my paycheck.”

“But, that’s your paycheck—” he argued, sounding terribly confused. Kihyun’s lips tugged into a smile.

“I _insist_. Don’t worry about it,” he replied, pushing the cup of ice cream over to Hoseok. “Take this as me buying you ice cream, if you don’t want to think of it as taking ice cream from us, on the house.”

Staring at the cup of pink and then back up to the pink-haired man, “I mean,” he started, awkwardly reaching for the cup of ice cream. “I guess so.”

Pleased, Kihyun stepped away from the cash register and leaned against the freezer, staring at Hoseok for a moment. Holding the ice cream in his hands, Hoseok stared back at him, unable to take his eyes off the pretty boy. He must have been staring for a while, because the pleasant smile on Kihyun’s lips turned into an amused smirk. He tilted his head at Hoseok, running his tongue across his lips.

“Can I get anything else for you?” Kihyun asked, eyes twinkling. “Extra napkins? Anything at all?”

He glanced down at the cup of ice cream in his hands, and blinked rapidly.

 _“Uh,”_ he managed, after a moment of stupidly staring at the frozen, pink treat in his hands. Kihyun watched him, resting his chin in his hand as he rested his elbow on the counter, “I think you forgot to get me a spoon.”

Kihyun’s eyes widened in realization, as he pushed himself off of the counter, lips pursed into a small frown—and it took Hoseok far too long to realize that it was more a feigned reaction than something legitimate.

“Oh, _silly me_ ,” he responded, turning around to grab one of the pastel-coloured plastic spoons from the container behind him. He pulled a marker out of his apron, quickly scribbling on it, before he turned back around to Hoseok with a suddenly shy smile. “I’m sorry about that, here you are.”

“Thanks,” he said, letting their fingers brush when he reached for the spoon.

“My pleasure,” Kihyun answered, pretty smile gracing his expression again. Hoseok found himself staring again, and to save himself from any further embarrassment (because he decided that _now_ was that perfect time to _stop_ embarrassing himself, of course), the silver-haired man turned on his heel to step out of the ice cream shop, shoving a spoonful of the strawberry ice cream into his mouth and letting it melt in his mouth.

It took him five steps out of the ice cream shop’s door for him, before he remembered seeing the pink-haired man scribble onto the spoon with a marker. Out of curiosity, Hoseok reached for the spoon in his mouth. Pulling the spoon out of his mouth, Hoseok turned it around to look for the writing on the pastel-coloured spoon.

His eyes registered onto a row of numbers and a smiley face following it, before it struck him.

 _“Oh,”_ he breathed, his words leaving his lips in a soft puff of smoke in the cold air.

In realization, Hoseok slowly lowered the spoon and let it fall back into the paper cup. Then, backing up in slow footsteps, Hoseok rewound himself back into the shop. Pushing the door of the ice cream shop back open with his back, Hoseok cleared his throat, awkwardly. When Kihyun looked up in response to the sound of the wind chime tinkling again, he opened his mouth to speak, before closing it again.

When Kihyun arched an eyebrow in curiosity, Hoseok gathered himself and cleared his throat, again.

“Hey, _uh,_ ” he started, “Could I also get a date sometime soon, too?”

Kihyun grinned, the sparkle in his eyes too obvious to miss, this time.

_“Thought you’d never ask.”_

**Author's Note:**

> Surprisingly, I’ve sort of gotten myself back on track for posting. Let’s see how long this lasts, because I still don’t have the works finished in advanced. _Hnn._ And as always, you can find me on Twitter @yuseokki!


End file.
